Scoundrel's Flight
by Vykk Weasley
Summary: 28 ABY. A smuggler and a former Mistryl Shadow Guard flee from the Yuuzhan Vong and the Peace Brigade.
1. Earning a Living

A YT-2400 freighter by the name of _Lightfinger _cruised through the swirling maelstrom of hyperspace. Vykk Draygo slouched in its pilot's chair, scowling at the controls. Brianna Tharsen sat adjacent to him in the copilot's seat wearing an expression of utter boredom.

"This sucks," Vykk said dejectedly, "the Vong are practically shutting down interstellar travel and the Peace Brigade is breathing down our necks. I tell ya, it's getting hard to –"

"…earn a dishonest living. Shut up," Brianna said, exasperated.

"You alright?" Vykk asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired of hearing you say that. I know times are hard for us, but you don't have to keep bringing it up just to break the silence," Brianna replied.

"Fair enough," Vykk consented, "Just thinkin' about our destination."

"Liar. You're thinking about what we plan to do once we get there," Brianna corrected.

"So what if I am?" Vykk asked heatedly.

"We both know it's the right choice," Brianna stated, "Once the war's over, we can go back to what we do best. Quiet your restless mind."

"I can't. I just don't like taking sides. So what if Antilles gave the Vong a bloody nose at Borleias? The New Republic is still losing the war."

"So they need our help, don't they?" Brianna asked helpfully.

"We can't make that much of a difference. All they'll let us do is ferry refugees from one beleaguered planet to another until we get sucked up by a grutchnya and turned into slaves for the rest of our lives," Vykk said dismissively.

"It's noble work," Brianna insisted.

"It's useless work. Sure, we're being good people and giving refugees more time to live, but it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme. We give them maybe a month that they wouldn't otherwise have had. Yeah, we'd be real heroes," Vykk said sardonically.

"Damnit, Vykk! Will you get your head out of your ass for one second?" Brianna asked, incensed.

Vykk flinched in surprise at the venom in her words. He snapped his head around and stared directly into her eyes. "I'm just being realistic. I want to help just as much as you do. I just think the New Republic is doomed and that we'd be better off disappearing to some remote planet for the rest of our lives."

"They're not doomed. I'll admit that losing Coruscant was a huge blow, but there's still fight left in them," Brianna argued.

"I haven't given up all hope," Vykk retorted, "Why do you think we're headed to Mon Cal? The New Republic is trying to pull itself together and I want to be there."

Brianna scoffed. "You just want to join the Talon Karrde organization."

"So what if I do? They'll be around long after the Vong grind the New Republic to dust. It may not be a good living, but it beats slaving for the Vong," Vykk opined.

"You say that like it's a foregone conclusion," Brianna said worriedly.

"Yeah, so?" Vykk said rudely.

"Why do you have to be so defeatist?" Brianna asked.

"Survival," Vykk replied simply.

"Survival?" Brianna echoed.

"Being prepared for the worst helps you roll with the punches," Vykk explained, "Given the New Republic's track record, it's setting itself up for a beatdown and I don't want to fall into their hole.

"We can help the New Republic roll with the punches. Besides, we're both hardened survivors. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can take us down," Brianna said defiantly.

"How many times have you been an inch from death?" Vykk demanded.

"Come on, you silly nerfherder. What's the worst that could happen?" Brianna chided.

Rising to the bait, Vykk assumed a haughty expression. Before he could utter a sound, however, the _Lightfinger_ violently decanted from hyperspace. Immediately in front of them was a massive dovin basal mine. Grateful that he had upgraded the _Lightfinger_'s sensors over a year ago, Vykk scanned the surrounding area. One squadron of coralskippers was currently on an intercept vector with no other enemy ships in sight.

"Bri, get in the dorsal turret and strap in tight," Vykk barked.

Brianna leapt out of the copilot's seat and dashed to the dorsal turret. After confirming that she had strapped in, she aligned her sights and searched for targets. Targeting the vanguard coralskipper, she loosed a barrage of splinter shots. The dovin basal swallowed most of them while the rest peppered the skip's port side. Switching to full power, Brianna hit the skip dead center, blowing it into wayward chunks of yorik coral.

Destroying that coralskipper had taken nearly twenty seconds. The remaining eleven coralskippers used that time to fire endless streams of plasma at the _Lightfinger_ from maximum range. The freighter's shields fell to fifty percent. Once they passed each other, both the freighter and the coralskippers looped around for another run. Instead of driving for the coralskippers, Vykk dove at the dovin basal mine. Easily coping for the change in trajectory, Brianna burned down another skip. Passing shots brought the _Lightfinger_'s shields down a further ten percent.

"Get ready for the Solo Slingshot," Vykk advised.

Reaching the mine, Vykk used its gravity to slingshot the _Lightfinger_ around it and place the freighter on a radically different vector. The coralskippers hesitated for a brief moment. Brianna used it to her advantage by knocking out two more. Realizing the coralskippers would intercept him before he could jump to hyperspace, Vykk turned the ship around and sped for the mine once again. Anticipating him, half the coralskippers placed themselves between the _Lightfinger_ and the dovin basal mine while the rest vectored in on the freighter's aft. Plasma pounded the freighter from both sides, reducing its shields to twenty percent. Brianna blasted another coralskipper as the freighter blew past them.

With the seven remaining coralskippers behind them, Vykk vectored slightly away from the dovin basal mine. He drained all available power from the shields and lasers and diverted it to sublight. The _Lightfinger_ darted forward, quickly outdistancing the regrouping coralskippers. Once free of the dovin basal mine's interdiction, the navicomputer took only thirty seconds to cough up a safe route. Allowing himself a brief smile of victory, Vykk pulled the hyperdrive levers and left the battle light years behind.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Emerging from hyperspace at Mon Calamari, the _Lightfinger_ was immediately queried by perimeter forces.

"Attention freighter, hold at your current position while we process your identification," the picket ordered. Five minutes of comm silence broke with a crackle of static. "Attention freighter _Lightfinger_, shut down all major systems and prepare to be boarded," the picket instructed.

Vykk obediently brought down all systems but life support and the portside docking hatch. Awash in the glow of emergency lighting, he propped his feet up on the board and waited calmly for boarders. Brianna merely nodded and aped his relaxed posture. Another five minutes passed until they heard faint sounds emerging from the _Lightfinger_'s port side. Heaving themselves from their seats, Vykk and Brianna casually strode to the hatch. They arrived just as the hatch irised open, admitting a Duro, two humans and a Bith, all armed and wearing New Republic uniforms. Upon seeing Vykk, the Duro approached him.

"Are you Captain Vykk Draygo?" the Duro asked plainly.

"Yes, Traveler" Vykk confirmed, "and you are?"

"Lieutenant Jyver Bhert. Shortly, you and your companion may accompany us on our inspection of your vessel," Bhert said flatly.

Two of Bhert's men stepped forward to frisk Vykk and Brianna. Coming up clean on both of them, Bhert instructed them to fall into step behind him with two of his men bringing up the rear. The Bith next to Bhert held a peculiar scanner, staring at it intently. He noticed in his peripheral vision that Vykk was staring at the device.

"Scans for Vong biotech," the Bith said simply.

"Couldn't you just program a mouse droid to do that?" Vykk asked.

"I guess you could. It'd be even better to have a YVH-series droid along. It can find Vong _and_ kill them," the Bith said significantly.

"No kidding," Vykk agreed, "I guess you just have to hope you get dealt a better sabacc hand next time you're out on patrol."

"I guess," the Bith said, resuming his scrutiny of the bioscanner.

They continued on through the lounge and every other nook and cranny of the ship. After an uneventful twenty minutes, they found themselves back at the docking hatch. The two men behind Vykk and Brianna brushed past them as Bhert about-faced to address Vykk.

"Everything seems to be in working order with no apparent contraband," Bhert concluded, "Soon after we leave, a pair of X-wings will escort you down to Coral City."

Minutes later, the _Lightfinger_ settled into its assigned berth in the Coral City spaceport. After locking the ship down, Vykk and Brianna made their way to customs. Passing through without incident, they proceeded down the path to the city proper.

Vykk's roving gaze alighted upon a familiar figure leaning casually against the wall. Nudging Brianna, he nodded towards the figure. Brianna's eyebrows lifted slightly as Vykk led her towards the mysterious individual. Once they closed to within a meter, they could make out his bulbous head more clearly. It was the same Bith that had just been aboard the _Lightfinger _with the inspection team. He was the first to speak.

"Interested in a game of pazaak?" the Bith asked furtively.

"Don't you mean sabacc? Pazaak went out of style a thousand years ago," Vykk said, shaking his head ruefully.

"Right you are Mr. Draygo. Name's Graym Vaffer. Follow me," the Bith said crisply.

The three wound their way through pedestrian traffic, making numerous turns until they finally reached a street that admitted speeders. Graym led them to a parked speeder and motioned for them to get in. Taking the controls, he joined the general flow of traffic.

Twenty kilometers later, Graym brought the speeder to a halt outside a nondescript two-story building. Vykk and Brianna exited the speeder and calmly entered the building. Once the door shut behind them, a woman approached them with a weapons scanner. Rolling their eyes, Vykk and Brianna waited patiently for the search to come up dry. Apparently satisfied, the woman gestured to a staircase and resumed her seat at what appeared to be a reception desk.

Vykk and Brianna quickly ascended the plain staircase and approached a door on the second floor flanked by two fierce-looking guards. One guard jerked the door open and the pair entered without breaking stride. The room was austerely decorated; a single holo adorned the opposite wall. Graym stood silently in the far corner of the room, propped up against the wall. A Greel wood desk dominated the room. Seated behind it was a thick, black-haired human with generous stubble adorning his chin. Vykk and Brianna took seats opposite him.

"If Graym hasn't already told you," the man began, "I'm Aves. What can Talon Karrde do for you?"

"It's not what he can do for us; it's what we can do for him," Vykk said, automatically launching into a sales pitch.

"Just looking for work, eh?" Aves asked, stroking his chin. "You have a name, sonny?"

"I'm Vykk Draygo and this is my partner, Brianna Tharsen," Vykk said plainly.

"You expect Talon Karrde to be interested in a Nar Shaddaa street urchin and a Mistryl outcast?" Aves asked stonily.

"Well, yeah," Vykk answered lamely.

Aves chuckled to himself. Turning to Graym, he said, "They'll do."

Plainly confused, Vykk couldn't help uttering, "Huh?"

Turning back to Vykk, Aves explained, "We ran background checks on the both of you before you even set foot on Mon Calamari. A former Mistryl Shadow Guard is an invaluable resource and a man that can deal with one has to be tough. And according to our information, you two are extremely trustworthy. That's rare in the fringe. Anyway, Graym here will fill you in on the details of your assignment. I have more important things to do."

With that, he got up and left, leaving Graym to assume his seat.

"Since Karrde has things pretty well covered here, Aves would like to send us three to Naboo to help our intelligence gathering operations there. I'll have a Skipray blastboat for transport and whatever else I deem necessary. You'll travel in your own ship. For safety reasons, we'll be taking the long way around to Naboo. Any questions?" Graym paused, and then continued, "I suggest we get moving. Our respective ships should be ready for launch."


	2. Capture

Surprisingly, they reached Naboo without incident. They stashed the _Lightfinger_ and the Skipray in a private hangar. Before setting off, they took an inventory of their supplies. Armed to the teeth, they set off for Theed Palace. As they walked the pristine streets, a heavy sense of unease descended on the group. Vykk was fingering his blaster, Brianna's hand was within a hairsbreadth of her vibroblade and Graym slowed considerably.

Noticing Graym's delay, Vykk briefly looked from the path ahead of them asking, "What's the hold up?"

"I hear something strange up ahead," Graym said quietly.

"What is it?" Brianna asked, trying to better attune her hearing.

"Vong," Graym said simply.

Vykk and Brianna froze in their tracks.

"WHAT?!" they shouted in unison.

"The Yuuzhan Vong are in the process of invading Naboo," Graym said, cringing.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" Vykk said, scowling.

"Knew? No. Suspected…" Graym replied, trailing off.

"It would've been nice knowing that going in," Brianna said angrily.

"We were sent here to confirm the rumors," Graym explained.

"We've confirmed 'em. Now let's get the mradhe muck out of here." Vykk said urgently.

"The Vong will soon be fully engaged," Graym pointed out, "You'd be hard-pressed to find a safe way out of Naboo's atmosphere until the planet falls."

"The little di'kut's right," Vykk said resignedly.

"Once you're done flinging ancient Mandalorian insults at me, we can find a place to hide," Graym said mockingly.

"I dunno," Vykk said thoughtfully, "cracking open your Hutt-sized head sounds better to me."

Graym flinched slightly while Brianna laid her hand firmly on Vykk's chest.

"Stop it, both of you," Brianna scolded.

Nodding at Brianna, Graym said, "Thank you. There's a safe house we can go to, but we must move quickly."

"Lead on," Vykk ordered gruffly.

They set off at a brisk walk, crossing half a klick before they ran into trouble. Grabbing Vykk and Brianna roughly, Graym managed to stop their forward progress and stuff them behind a wall. Vykk opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but Brianna put her hand over his mouth.

Graym peeked around the corner, spying a pair of Yuuzhan Vong patrolling the street. A smattering of tattoos covered their faces, but they displayed few of the more elaborate modifications that characterized higher-ranking warriors. They sneered in disgust at the exquisite Naboo architecture, occasionally hurling thud bugs at buildings. One of them was holding a line attached to a snarling bissop hound. Once it was within twenty feet of the trio, it began to walk almost directly to them. Vykk eased his blaster out of its holster while Brianna slid her vibroblade from its sheath. Graym kept watch, growing more apprehensive by the second.

The bissop spied Graym's head poking out from behind the wall and fierce howl emerged from its gullet. It charged at him, snapping its leash. Vykk raised his blaster and pumped half a dozen shots into its chest. It slammed into the wall next to Graym and lay still. The surprised Yuuzhan Vong shouted, "Do-ro'ik vong pratte!" and charged with amphistaffs twirling.

Graym dodged the first warrior but received the full brunt of the second's stiff forearm. He fetched up against the wall and sagged to the ground. Desperately tracking his blasterfire towards the vanguard warrior, Vykk succeeded in killing the warrior, but was immediately bowled over by the flailing corpse. Brianna was the only one left with complete freedom of movement. She settled into a Mistryl fighting stance with her vibroblade held in her right hand. The warrior came on hard, driving his amphistaff directly at her head. Ducking the blow, she slashed his chest, spraying jet-black blood all over her face. The warrior swung wildly behind him, catching Brianna in the back with his amphistaff. She turned her fall into a sloppy roll and came up on her feet facing the warrior. The amphistaff scythed at her once again, but went limp, arcing towards her shoulder. Brianna stabbed her vibroblade into the warrior's neck, further drenching herself in its blood. The warrior fell backward, dead.

As the amphistaff slithered away, Brianna grabbed her left shoulder. Her hand came away wet from the twin rivulets of blood running from the puncture wound left by the amphistaff. She managed to utter, "Stang," before she collapsed in a heap.

Heaving the dead warrior off his chest, Vykk stood up. He quickly surveyed the scene, noting the other dead warrior and both of his companions. He rushed to Brianna's side to make sure she was alright. His eyes went wide when he saw the amphistaff bite.

"I have anti-venom," Graym said from over his shoulder.

"Then give it to her, you worthless piece of nerf dung!" he shouted desperately.

Moving forward as if he didn't hear Vykk, Graym administered the anti-venom and stepped away. Minutes later, Brianna's eyes fluttered open. Groaning, she brought herself up to a sitting position.

"I feel like I've just been trampled by a herd of banthas. Plus there seems to be an Ewok band playing in my head," she said wearily.

"At least you're alive. It's a good thing Graym came prepared," Vykk said with grudging admiration.

"Did you happen bring any pain meds?" Brianna asked.

Graym shook his head, but Vykk pulled a small bottle from his belt and tossed it to her.

"A clear head means a steady gun hand," Vykk said condescendingly.

Brianna rolled her eyes, inadvertently causing herself to wince. She took the pain pills dry and stood up carefully using Vykk's arm for support. Deciding she could walk unassisted, she gently shrugged Vykk off.

"We need to get under cover before we run afoul of another patrol," Brianna said.

They immediately resumed their trek to the safe house. They encountered more patrols, but were miraculously able to elude each one. Cresting a hill, Graym suddenly gestured excitedly at a squat emerald-domed building. All three picked up their pace considerably, eager to reach the safety and security of a friendly installation. Vykk slowed down, mystified by a symbol above the door that he couldn't quite make out.

"Is that…" he started to say, trailing off.

Vykk broke into a run and came to a screeching halt fifty meters from the building. He stared dumbfounded for a few seconds as Brianna and Graym rushed up behind him. Suddenly, Vykk drew his blaster and whipped around. Absolute hate and loathing was etched on his face. Graym had no time to react as the blaster bolt caught him full in the chest. Walking up to Graym's body, Vykk discharged a blast into his face from point blank range.

Turning to Brianna, he said, "We gotta get out of here."

Brianna gawked at the image of a human hand clasping a Yuuzhan Vong hand as Vykk grabbed her shoulder and dragged her along with him towards the private hangar where they had landed. Once they were a safe distance away and well hidden, Brianna called a halt.

"We landed the same place as Graym. Chances are it's a Peace Brigade hangar," Brianna deduced.

"He was probably trying to recruit us," Vykk guessed.

"Or capture us for the Vong," Brianna offered.

"Either way, I don't see why we can't just bluff our way through this. Besides, the _Lightfinger_'s my ship," Vykk said vehemently.

"Sometimes I think you love that ship more than you love me," Brianna teased.

"I've been inside her more," Vykk riposted.

Brianna's mouth dropped open in surprise at his open vulgarity. Vykk winked at her as they resumed their trek. They were roughly three blocks from the hangar when a group of Brigaders spotted them. There were four of them, all armed with blasters. The apparent leader was a Twi'lek hefting an E-11 blaster rifle.

"Hey, who are you two?" the Twi'lek asked.

"Vykk Draygo and Brianna Tharsen," Vykk supplied, "We came here with Graym Vaffer, but we seem to have lost him."

"Ragesh Vorbash," the Twi'lek said, identifying himself, "Yeah, I heard he was bringing you two. We just got here ourselves. We can escort you to headquarters; it's about a klick that way," he said, indicating the direction.

"Sure. What do we do if we come across any Vong?" Vykk asked.

"We'll vouch for you," Ragesh answered, "Come on."

Ragesh and one of the other Brigaders led the way with Vykk and Brianna sandwiched between them and the other two Brigaders. They were just over half a klick from returning to the Peace Brigade's Naboo headquarters when Vykk and Brianna made their move. Vykk pulled his blaster and shot the two lead Brigaders in the back. Brianna sliced the throats of the rear pair. Wasting no time, they ran full tilt for the hangar.

Fifty meters from the hangar, a solitary Yuuzhan Vong warrior stepped into their path. Running too fast to dodge, Vykk slammed into his unyielding chest and bounced off. The warrior merely took a step back to compensate for the force of impact. Brianna, already ten meters past, ground to a halt. She turned around and was rewarded by the warrior's swift backhand. The warrior stalked forward as she fell flat on her back. The warrior threw a wad of blorash jelly at her legs, pinning her in place. Blasterfire pockmarked his back as Vykk pumped shot after shot into the warrior's unyielding vonduun crab armor. The warrior uncoiled his amphistaff and contemptuously sliced Vykk's blaster in half.

"Shavit," Vykk cursed, drawing his vibroblade.

He feinted towards the warrior's left flank then dove to the right only to meet the warrior's closed fist. The vibroblade flew from Vykk's hand as the warrior immobilized his legs with blorash jelly. Sweeping away Vykk's feeble blows, the warrior cold-cocked him in the left temple. Vykk crumpled to the ground unconscious. The warrior turned back to Brianna, who was holding her DL-18 in a two-handed grip. Too late, he lunged at her. She shot him right between the eyes.

With the immediate danger passed, Brianna focused on freeing herself from the binding blorash jelly. She cried out in surprise as it began to crawl up her legs, devouring her skin. Her cry was echoed by the now conscious Vykk.

"Arsensalts!" Vykk cried desperately.

Brianna yanked the arsensalts from her belt and threw some on both gobs of blorash jelly. Once its grip loosened, Vykk and Brianna yanked themselves away. Looking around desperately, they found themselves surprisingly alone. Taking no time to wonder at their good fortune, they gathered their weapons and resumed their mad dash for the hangar. Unbeknownst to Vykk, Brianna stumbled and fell behind him, still twenty meters from the hangar. Vykk burst into the hangar to find six blasters between him and the _Lightfinger_. He belatedly noticed that Brianna wasn't at his side. Turning his attention back to the blaster-toting mob, he saw Ragesh step forward wearing a look of intense pain.

"You're coming with us," Ragesh said through clenched teeth.

Then he turned his back to Vykk and limped behind the firing line. It was only then that Vykk noticed the neathlat practically covering Ragesh's back. Once behind the line, Ragesh signaled his men to open fire. Six stun blasts hit Vykk square in the chest. He was unconscious before he thudded onto the hangar floor.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vykk awoke to four identical white walls, the exception having the faint outline of a door in the middle. As he stared at it, the door opened, admitting Ragesh and a pair of mean-looking bodyguards armed with blasters. One bore several ritual scars and tattoos reminiscent of those worn by Yuuzhan Vong warriors. Without preamble, Ragesh stepped forward and kicked Vykk in the stomach. Vykk let his breath out in a whoosh as he folded over the impact. He snapped his head up to look at Ragesh, murder in his eyes.

"Where is Graym Vaffer?" Ragesh demanded.

"He's dead," Vykk answered.

"Killed by the likes of you?" Ragesh asked skeptically.

"Give me my blaster and I'll prove it," Vykk said wickedly.

"Save your bluster, you'll need it," Ragesh said ominously.

Before Vykk could offer a suitably scathing reply, Ragesh signaled his guards to stun him. The blue flashes sent Vykk sliding into blackness once more.


	3. Escape

This time when Vykk came around, multi-colored yorik coral walls surrounded him. He craned his neck down and saw that he was in the Embrace of Pain. Standing below him and waiting impatiently was a Yuuzhan Vong shaper adept. Suddenly the minishal felt much smaller. The shaper appeared to be holding a miniature Embrace of Pain in his hand. Noticing that Vykk was conscious, the shaper approached tentatively with the haar vhinic firmly in his grasp. Once the shaper disappeared from Vykk's peripheral vision, he felt six sharp needles stab into the apex of his spine. He cried out and gave a violent jerk, causing the Embrace to pull harder, almost dislocating his right shoulder.

"Are you capable of speech, infidel?" the shaper asked derisively, "I have a tizowyrm implant to translate your mongrel language."

"Yes," Vykk replied quietly.

"Do you wish an honorable death in battle, or a shameful death in the maw luur?" the shaper asked.

"I'd like to live, actually," Vykk replied sarcastically.

He was rewarded with a stabbing pain near his brain stem. It sent a rivulet of pain throughout his entire body, making a circuit through his entire nervous system. He screamed himself hoarse as he mentally begged for unconsciousness. The pain receded a full minute later, leaving him barely able to speak. The shaper's slash of a mouth curled into a malevolent smile.

"Defy me again and the haar vhinic will begin destroying sections of your brain," the shaper said coldly. "Your boldness leads me to think that you may know something of value. Speak it or face the Embrace."

"Like what?" Vykk asked disbelievingly.

As ordered, the Embrace tightened around Vykk's body. A loud pop echoed in the minishal as Vykk's shoulder fully separated. He screamed in anguish as his blood seeped from multiple wounds. A ngdin on the floor soaked up the sweat and blood that dripped from his mangled body. Reaching his breaking point, Vykk started babbling incoherently. A villip across the room recorded every garbled word. Eventually, Vykk ran out of things to say. He slumped in the Embrace, but remained conscious. The shaper collected the haar vhinic from the back of Vykk's neck and stroked the Embrace.

The Embrace released its grip and Vykk hit the floor with a wet thump. He moaned as the Embrace's tendrils slithered away and collected on the ceiling. The shaper observed Vykk for a moment before moving forward to tend to his more life-threatening wounds. The shaper was a meter away when a wall of the minishal exploded inward, showering its occupants with chunks of yorik coral. Vykk jerked his head up and was immediately sorry that he did. He could feel his heartbeat from his toes up to his forehead. Even his eyes seemed to be playing tricks on him because he thought he saw Brianna enter through the breach. He carried that image with him into oblivion.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brianna leapt through the hole created by her detonation pack. Her gaze roved around the room in tandem with her drawn blaster. Once she caught sight of the shaper, she planted a laser blast in the back of his head, dropping him to the floor. She quickly crossed the room to her target, pumping a half dozen more shots into his head. She gave the room another quick scan before rushing to Vykk's side. She gaped in horror at Vykk's broken body. Nearly covering him in bacta patches, she eventually stopped the bleeding. Gingerly hoisting Vykk over her shoulder, she ran back through the opening in the minishal wall. Entering a dark alley, she laid Vykk gently on the ground.

"There's no medcenter this time," she said, sniffling.

She patiently waited for her hands to stop shaking before she turned her attention to Vykk's dressings. She thoroughly cleaned and bandaged Vykk's wounds. He remained unconscious as she reset his shoulder. Satisfied that she had done all she could do, she prepared a hypo and injected Vykk with adrenaline. His eyes fluttered open and his expression turned instantly to a pained grimace.

"Bri?" Vykk asked uncertainly.

"I'm here," Brianna replied.

"Where are we?" he asked wearily.

"About a kilometer away from the ship," she answered.

"Stang. The only way I'm getting there is if you carry me," he said regretfully.

"It's okay," she reassured, "I can carry you over my left shoulder, leaving me with a clear gun hand."

"That's my girl, always thinking straight," he complimented.

"Only because I'm not drunk off my ass all the time," she chided.

"As I recall, you seem to like me better when I'm drunk," he said playfully.

She nodded. "Pants come off faster."

Vykk's chuckle rapidly turned into a hacking cough. Brianna's face paled when she saw some blood come out.

"Let's get moving," she urged.

"How about you get moving and I be the useless lump on your shoulder?" Vykk asked pointedly.

"How about instead of talking, you just stare at my ass the whole way?" Brianna suggested.

"Done and done," Vykk said, subsiding into silence.

Rolling her eyes, Brianna gently draped Vykk over her shoulder and started for the spaceport. She hadn't taken two steps before she felt a pinch.

"Hey, you can do that once we're in friendly space," she said over her shoulder.

"It was too tempting to pass up," Vykk apologized.

"Rein in your hormones and be a good dead weight," Brianna ordered.

"Yes ma'am," Vykk consented.

They were within a hundred meters of the spaceport when Brianna suddenly froze. She scrutinized her surroundings, searching for the source of her foreboding. She heard a muffled clank and hastily pointed her blaster in the general direction of the noise. What emerged from the darkness caused her mouth to fall open.

"Aves!" she shouted, "You set us up. Give me one reason I shouldn't pull this trigger," Brianna said menacingly.

"We didn't," Aves said simply.

"We?" she asked uncertainly.

Aves made a nearly invisible gesture and six heavily armed men stepped from the shadows. Brianna's eyes widened slightly and she lowered her blaster.

"Fine," she said, holstering her weapon, "What are you doing here?"

"Karrde never abandons his people," Aves replied.

"Decent of him. When did you find out Graym was a traitor?" she asked harshly.

"When he took our Skipray without asking," he answered.

"Can you help us get to our ship?" she asked.

"That's why we're here," Aves confirmed, "Just hand off Vykk to Habec and we can get going."

Brianna reluctantly complied. She spent the next few seconds unkinking her shoulder. Satisfied that Brianna was ready, Aves motioned his men forward. They encountered no major obstacles on their way to the spaceport. They arrived to find it heavily guarded by Peace Brigade thugs. Aves made a complicated motion with his hands and two of his men veered off from the main group to find optimal sniper positions. Aves waited one minute for the snipers to get in position then signaled for the rest of his men to open fire.

Four Brigaders dropped to the ground while the remaining sixteen woke up to the threat and returned fire. Habec carefully laid Vykk in a secluded niche then turned to join the fight only to fall backwards with a smoking hole in his chest. Aves retaliated by pumping several shots into a barrel of fuel which exploded spectacularly, taking out three more Brigaders in a rain of fire and shrapnel. One Brigader decided to bring some cohesion to his group, getting the attention of four other Brigaders and pointing agitatedly at the position of one of Aves' snipers. The sniper pegged two of them before succumbing to their massed fire while the other sniper eliminated the rest. Another of Aves' men slumped to the ground dead as they took out three more Brigaders.

Facing more even odds, two of Aves' men grew sloppy with their shots and were rewarded with merciless deaths. Luckily, they had had the good sense to take an equal number of Brigaders with them. Vykk slumbered in his hidey-hole while Aves, Brianna and the lone sniper continued the battle. One Brigader exposed himself long enough to receive a shot to the chest from Brianna. Unfortunately, the Brigader's grenade reached its target. It exploded next to the sniper, flinging him off the rooftop to plummet to his death. Aves and Brianna picked off two more, causing the final Brigader to abandon his post and flee into Naboo's labyrinthine streets.

Brianna ran to Vykk, heaving him off the ground and onto her shoulder. Rushing back to Aves side, they ran together for the spaceport entrance. They burst into the main hangar, continuing their mad dash until they arrived at the _Lightfinger_'s entrance ramp. Brianna awkwardly keyed in the entry code and carried Vykk up the ramp once it lowered. She secured him in the _Lightfinger_'s tiny medical bay then rushed to help Aves in the cockpit.

"How close are we to liftoff?" Brianna asked breathlessly.

"Three minutes," Aves replied.

"I'm lowering the underside swivel blaster and setting it to fire at any movement," Brianna said.

"A Solo-style swivel blaster? You two just get better and better," Aves quipped.

Brianna smiled at the compliment as she finished the startup procedures. Without delay, Aves fired up the repulsors and sent the _Lightfinger_ screaming out of the hangar. The _Lightfinger_ clawed for space as its occupants held on for dear life. Clearing the atmosphere, Brianna set the navicomputer to calculate a safe route to Mon Calamari.

"Cancel that," Aves ordered, "Just plot a light-year-long jump in any direction."

"Good idea," Brianna agreed.

"Come on, spit it out," Aves urged the navicomputer, "One more min – oh sithspit!"

The source of Aves' outraged surprise was a full Yuuzhan Vong battle group bearing down on them. Something about their formation niggled at him as he commenced evasive maneuvers.

"Wait. That's not a patrol; it's an invasion fleet!" Aves exclaimed, "And there's the defenders a few thousand klicks away. Looks like they're getting hit hard, but it leaves us free to slip out unnoticed."

"Spoke too soon," Brianna said as a Yorik-Vec and two squads of coralskippers peeled off in pursuit.

"Emperor's black bones!" Aves cursed as he threw the _Lightfinger_ into a steep dive.

Suddenly, an Interdictor Cruiser emerged from hyperspace with a pair of Dreadnaughts and began powering up its gravity well projectors. Alerted to the threat at their flank, the Yuuzhan Vong sent a quarter of their force to annihilate the Interdictor. The fleet opposing the defenders retained a slight edge in firepower, enough to keep them at bay. Aves stared blankly out the cockpit viewport for a moment before hanging his head in defeat.

"Minions of Xendor! How the mradhe muck are we supposed to kriffing get out of here!" Brianna blasphemed.

At that moment, an Imperial Star Destroyer and two Bothan Assault Cruisers emerged from hyperspace. They opened fire on the approaching Yuuzhan Vong flotilla at point blank range. Two enemy ships instantly flared into incandescence. Taking advantage of the enemy's surprise, they took a moment to raise their shields then went back on the offensive. Geysers of yorik coral sprang from the enemy ships as they suicidally flung themselves at one of the Bothan Assault Cruisers.

"A bit sloppy, but you don't really need to be perfect with the Thrawn Pincer," Aves commented.

"Mind helping me get us out of here?" Brianna asked impatiently.

"Keep your shirt on," Aves replied exasperatedly as he accelerated to maximum sublight.

"We're clear of the Interdictor's gravity well and we have a course. Go!" she urged.

The beleaguered Bothan Assault Cruiser exploded behind them as Aves pulled back the hyperdrive levers, launching the _Lightfinger_ into hyperspace.


End file.
